A General We Can Support
How about a general strike? It looks like we may at least get a limited trial
run of one tomorrow (Monday, October 17) in the Vancouver-Victoria, British
Columbia area. The BC Federation of Labor is not only planning a mass
demonstration in solidarity with striking teachers; they are also urging workers
to take the day off to support the action.

The teachers
were saddled with a deal rammed through the legislature by the governing
Liberals to extend their contract with no changesĖand no raises. The union
refused to accept this dictatorial act and called a one hundred percent solid
strike. Despite having their strike declared "illegal,"having their strike funds
frozen, and facing threats of fines and even jail time, the feisty teachers are
hanging tough.

But to win
they will need lots of help. So far, the leadership of the BC labor movement has
been talking a good fight. Now the rhetoric needs to be followed up in action.
Mobilizing the entire BC working class in a solidarity general strike could not
only save the day for the teachers; it could signal an end to the unions being
pushed around by bosses and their stooges in government and courts.

While the
teacher union is currently barred from accepting donations to their strike fund
you can send a message of support to BCTF president Jinny Sims at:
jsims@bctf.ca

A General to Confront
How about General Motors? Americaís biggest unionized private employer is in
talks this weekend to extract major health care give-backs from the UAW. But
this skirmish is only a probing action in what is likely to shape up as one of
the biggest class wars in the U.S. in decades. Last week I promised to write
more on the crisis in the UAW. Iíve begun what may become a series of articles.
Here is a sneak preview of the introduction:

***

Until the past
few weeks, the United Auto Workers could legitimately claim to have fared the
best among the major industrial unions in American manufacturing. Pointing to
their Big Three contracts. and agreements with Big Three spin-offs, they could
brag about high wages, the best health insurance, and some of the top pensions
and paid time off. They have even had funds to supplement unemployment
compensation during times of layoffs.

Of course,
these benefits are enjoyed by far fewer workers than even twenty years ago. A
combination of lost market share by the Big Three, technological changes,
off-shoring, and outsourcing, have taken a huge, and ongoing toll on UAW
membership. Solidarity House has been seeking to prevent this decline from
becoming a free fall by pursuing a strategy of responsible partnership with the
employers.. They hoped for some kind of eventual soft landing that could avoid
the draconian take-backs won by bosses in steel, electrical, rubber, meat
packing, and other traditional bastions of industrial union strength.

But this has
been a crisis deferred rather than escaped. One doesnít have to look overseas
for a threat to the profit margins of GM, Ford, and Daimler-Chryslerís American
operations. So-called "transplants" of Asian and European automakersĖthe UAW has
failed to organize a single one--are cranking out millions of cars in the
U.S. with far lower labor costs.

The wage
differential paid in those plants, while substantial, is only a small part of
this threat. The difference in benefit obligations is enormous. The Big Three
are committed to paying an ever-growing number of retirees tens of billions in
pensions and health care. The current retiree to active worker ratio at GM is
2.5-1.

Korean based
Hyundai recently opened a state of the art plant in Alabama. They, of course,
will have no retirees any time soon. In any case, they do not provide a defined
benefit pension as UAW workers enjoy. Like most of the transplants, Hyundai
workers are enrolled in a 401(k) planĖthe kind of retirement security that Enron
workers once counted on. The transplant bosses also contribute far less toward
out of control health care costs than the Big Three are required to cough up.

The Big Three
have seen this coming. More than a decade ago they started to spin-off the
unionized sector of their parts manufacturing with the long range goal of seeing
these outsourced operations drive down labor costs. But when GM spun off Delphi
in 1999 they had to agree to a transition periodĖat least through 2007--where
they would continue to guarantee basic obligations they had accepted under
previous contracts.

Delphi has now
entered bankruptcy and is demanding huge cuts in wages and benefits. Thatís not
only bad news for the 24,000 UAW members (and several thousand in other unions)
at Delphi. If GM is held to its guarantees of Delphi pensions then General
Motors itself may threaten to go the bankruptcy route. That could have far
reaching ramifications for all American workers.

***

No Roe Behind Bars
Name, age, and skin color have not been published but we do know the gender of a
prisoner in one of Missouriís "correctional" institutions who sued to get the
right to an abortion. Governor Blunt has issued executive orders prohibiting
abortions within the jails and forbidding transport of inmates to clinics
providing such medical services outside his hospitality. The ACLU obtained an
emergency order from a federal judge directing the state to take the prisoner to
an abortion clinic. But Blunt, ably represented by attorney general Jay Nixon, a
liberal Democrat "friend of labor" and "friend of womenís rights," sought out a
friend of their own on the Supreme CourtĖClarence Thomas. This Justice, well
known for his own friendship and sensitivity toward women, stayed the lower
court order until he has a chance to look into it further. Court experts say
this could take several months, probably making it a moot point. I donít recall
Justice Thomas staying any of Missouriís numerous executions during his time on
the bench. But then the death penalty is not a pro-life issue.

More From the North
In BCís neighboring province of Alberta another important labor struggle has
erupted. Not as big, and certainly not as civil as the teacher strike, UFCW
members at Tyson Foods Lakeside Packers cattle slaughterhouse and processing
facility in Brooks, Alberta are in a fight for their lives for a first contract.
Arkansas based Tyson, now a multinational meat giant (Lakeside processes forty
percent of Canadaís beef), stonewalled the union and a federal mediator for nine
months before forcing a strike October 12. Tyson has attempted to operate with
scabs from day one. On that first day a company official driving a scab-filled
bus plowed into pickets, injuring several. Last Thursday, local union president
Doug O'Halloran was hospitalized after company vehicles forced his SUV off the
road. The RCMP responded by arresting perpetrators and victim alike. Now a court
has issued an injunction against the unionís picket line. A good example of free
tradeĖTyson exports violence to Canada while importing meat.

Thanks once
again to our friend Rod in Vancouver for keeping us supplied with labor news
from Canada.

Brutality Knows No Borders
A few weeks ago we reported on how Sutterís California Pacific Medical Center
had lured some destitute New Orleans evacuees to scab on SEIU strikers. Now the
bosses have reached out globally for help in trying to break this strike. They
hired temporary security personnel from Steele Foundation, an expensive
international security firm that sends private armed guards to volatile areas
around the world. In 2001, Steel Foundation guards were engaged in fighting a
paramilitary coup attempt that resulted in the death of four people at Haitiís
National Palace. According to the union, "Steele Foundation guards have shoved,
spit on, sexually harassed, and threatened Nursing Assistants, Licensed
Vocational Nurses and other hospital caregivers." At a recent picket line rally
striking dietary aide Lorenna Hernandez was hospitalized with abdominal injuries
after being kicked to the ground by military trained security at CPMC.